Monday, July 9, 2012

My father used to say: "Where does the time go? Into a little dark hole in the ground."

Yesterday I looked at my grandmother's writing desk built before 1900. For nine years now the drawers have been swollen shut, but with the AC the ancient walnut cabinetry shrunk just enough for me to get into the desk and see what was there.

Our granddaughter was staying with us in 2004 and she'd taken over the old desk, and made it hers. All her stuff was in it. She's in college now and I didn't think she'd mind if I took a peek at her "secret things." This is what I found in the cubbies and drawers:

A deck of playing cards whittled at by silverfish
A bunch of bird feathers
Some stones in a plastic bag
A container of Elmer's Washable Glue, still soft and gooey
A set of Batman and Robin cards

And then the real time capsule treasure!

A Numi box inside of which was a nine year old's note to her grandparents on the day she went home to Miami with her mom. Summer was over. Inside the box was a nine year old, unread note that said:

Gerald Hausman calls himself a "native of the world" after living in so many places in the United States and the West Indies. He spent more than twenty years in New Mexico where many of his American Indian folktales were collected and published. Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1945, Hausman has been a storyteller almost since birth. His more than 70 books attest to his love of folklore, a passion instilled by his mother who painted the portraits of Native American chiefs. During his thirty-five years as a storyteller, Gerald has entertained children of all ages at such places as The Kennedy Center, Harvard University, St John's College and in schools from one end of the country to the other. Five audio books have come out in recent years and two of Gerald's books have been made into animated and folkloric films. His books have also been translated into a dozen foreign languages.